同学们，英语学习过程中，搭配（collocation）需要我们一直用心积累哦

四单元你学到的搭配有哪些？

1.college sweetheart----(a boyfriend or girlfriend met at college)

2.take the initiative----(seize an opportunity to do sth. before others)

3.romantic relationship----(a relationship that involves love)

4.steady boyfriend----(a boy you have been having a romantic relationship with for a long time)

5.casual attraction----(casual feeling of liking each other)

6.fairy-tale romance----(love in fairy tale)

7.exceedingly embarrassed----(completely in an awkward position)

8.madly in love----(loving in a strong way)

9.healthy friendship----(an effective and good relationship between friends)

10.traditional upbringing----(a traditional way of caring for children)

11.mature love----(sensible and reasonable love)

12.mutual friend----(a friend that two or more people have in common)

Language Points:

1 I smile at my two lovely daughters and they seem so much more mature than we,their parents, when we were college sweethearts. (Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Married to her college sweetheart, the author now is happy withher family and two grown daughters.

Note: College sweethearts refer to someone with whom one is in love and by whom oneis loved at college; sweetheart is equivalent to lover,darling, beloved, or dear. 

For example:Well done, sweetheart, we are all so proud of you. 做得好，宝贝，我们以你为荣。

My husband is the greatest guy in the world; he was my college sweetheart. 我丈夫是世界上最棒的，大学时他就是我的恋人。

He tries to locate his former sweetheart Melina from whom he has heard nothing for a verylong time. 他在努力寻找他以前的恋人梅利娜，他已经很久没有她的消息了。

2 Linda, who’s 21, had a boyfriend in her freshman year she thought she wouldmarry, but they’re not together anymore. Melissa, who’s 19, hasn’t had a steadyboyfriend yet. My daughters wonder when they will meet “The One”, their greatlove.(Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Her two daughters are at the age of just dating, but they seemto be very mature wondering when they will meet their true love.

3 They think their father and I had a classic fairy tale romance heading for marriage from the outset. (Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Her daughters consider their parents’ marriage a typical conventional romance because they think it aimed at marriage from the very beginning.

Usage note: classic, classical 

1.classic 用作形容词表示“经典的；精彩的；一流的”。

例如：Death on the Nile is one of the classic works of Agatha Christie. 《尼罗河上的惨案》是阿加莎·克里斯蒂的经典作品之一。口语中也会用到 classic 这个词。当你看到一场精彩的演出时，就可以说“That’s classic!”来表达赞美。classic 用作形容词也表示“典型的；标准的”。例如：London is the classic example of the scattered city. 伦敦是标准分散型的城市。This statement was a classic illustration of British politeness. 这项陈述是对英国礼貌的一个典型说明。classic 也可用作名词，表示“文学名著；经典作品；杰作”。例如：We have all the standard classics of Hayao Miyazaki at home. 我们家有宫崎骏的所有的经典作品。

2 classical 不能用作名词，只能用作形容词，表示“古典的；经典的”。例如：I spend a lot of time reading and listening to classical music. 我花了很多时间阅读和聆听古典音乐。Classical music is music written by composers such as Mozart and Beethoven. 像莫扎特和贝多芬所创作的音乐称为古典音乐。莫扎特和贝多芬所创作的音乐属于古典音乐(classical music), 但这些古典音乐经久不衰，有永久的意义和价值，所以这些音乐也可称为经典的音乐（classic music）。反之，在前面有一例中说可口可乐瓶子的设计是精彩的，一流的，所以是经典（classic）之作，但很明显可口可乐瓶子的设计不是古典的 （classical）设计。所以，经典的（classic）作品不一定就是古典的（classical）作品。

Note: Classic fairy-tale romance is used to describe a romance blessed with unusual happiness. Colloquially, a fairy tale can also refer to any story extremely unlikely to be true.

4 Perhaps, they’re right but it didn’t seem so at the time. (Para. 1)

Meaning: My daughters’ perception may be right, yet our romance back then was actuallynot like what they have assumed.

5 In a way, love just happens when you least expect it. Who would have thoughtthat Butch and I would end up getting married to each other? He became myboyfriend because of my shallow agenda: I wanted a cute boyfriend! (Para. 1)Meaning: Love comes your way when you don’t really expect it. No one thought thatButch and I would finally get married. He became my boyfriend simply because I wouldlike to fulfill my shallow wish: to have an attractive boyfriend in college.

Meaning beyond words: Here is the suspense of the story – the author gives a broadhint that she will tell us how she and her husband got married at last.

6 We met through my college roommate at the university cafeteria. That fatefulnight, I was merely curious, but for him I think it was love at first sight. (Para. 2)

Meaning: At the school dining hall that important night, we were introduced to each otherthrough my roommate. I met Butch just out of curiosity, but he seemed to fall in love withme as soon as he saw me.

7 “You have beautiful eyes,” he said as he gazed at my face. (Para. 2)

Meaning beyond words: The author was obviously attractive to Butch since he tried toplease her by praising her eyes.

8 He kept staring at me all night long. (Para. 2)

Note: Both gaze at and stare at mean “looking at something fixedly for a long timebecause of being attracted, surprised, or thinking, etc.”. Stare at usually has the additionalmeaning of “with eyes widely open”. Also, it usually implies “with great attention”; gaze at usually implies “in a dreamy and unaware state of mind”.

9 I really wasn’t that interested for two reasons. First, he looked like he was a reallywild boy, maybe even dangerous. Second, although he was very cute, he seemed alittle weird. (Para. 2)

Meaning beyond words: She wasn’t interested in him because she got the impressionthat he was wild and strange, which illustrates that she didn’t know much about him at thebeginning. Therefore, it’s not true that their romance was heading for marriage from thestart.

10 Riding on his bicycle, he’d ride past my dorm as if “by accident” and pretend tobe surprised to see me. I liked the attention but was cautious about his wild,dynamic personality. (Para. 3)

Meaning beyond words: She understood his little trick: trying to see her bymanufacturing excuses. Though she was happy to be the focus of his attention, she wasalso very alert to his wild and dynamic personality.

11 He had a charming way with words which would charm any girl. (Para. 3)

Meaning: He knew how to please and attract girls because what he said was alwayspleasant to their ears.

12 Fear came over me when I started to fall in love. His exciting “bad boy image” was just too tempting to resist. What was it that attracted me?(Para. 3)

Meaning: I was in an awkward position: I started to fall in love with him, but I was alsoafraid of that. His bad boy image was too attractive to resist, but at the same time it wassomewhat fearful. So, what exactly was it in him that attracted me?

Note: Tempting is a present participle of the verb tempt, used as an adjective to describethe effect that something has on someone’s feelings. 

For example, if you find somethingtempting/charming/disgusting/frightening, it means it tempts/charms/disgusts/frightensyou. In English there are a group of words describing an effect that something has on yourfeelings and ideas. 

For example:

a tempting job offer 一个诱人的工作机会

an alarming increase in racial hostility 种族仇视的惊人增长a 

welcoming smile 热情的微笑

a surprising number of 数量惊人的

13 I always had an excellent reputation. My concentration was solely on my studiesto get superior grades. But for what? (Para. 3)

Meaning: I was an outstanding student who only concentrated on studies in order to getexcellent grades. But so what? Shouldn’t a good student also have fun?

14 College is supposed to be a time of great learning and also some fun. I hadnearly achieved a great education, and graduation was just one semester away. ButI hadn’t had any fun; my life was stale with no component of fun! I needed aboyfriend. (Para. 3)

Meaning: College is definitely a nice place for education but should have some fun aswell. Throughout my years at college, I had devoted all my time to study but hadn’t hadany fun yet. Now that I was graduating, I wanted to have a boyfriend to enrich my college life.

15 Not just any boyfriend. He had to be cute. My goal that semester became: Beambitious and grab the cutest boyfriend I can find. (Para. 3)

Meaning: The one I wanted to date was not just an ordinary boy; he had to be handsome,pleasant and attractive. My ambition for that semester, therefore, was to find the cutestboyfriend at college.

16 I worried what he’d think of me. (Para. 4)

Meaning beyond words: Her concern about how Butch would look at her shows that shewas becoming more interested in him and cared about his real thinking.

17 True, we lived in a time when a dramatic shift in sexual attitudes was takingplace, but I was a traditional girl who wasn’t ready for the new ways that seemedcommon on campus. (Para. 4)

Meaning: It is true that we lived in an era when sexual attitudes were changingdramatically, but since I was traditional, I wasn’t ready for the new sexual practiceseemingly common on campus.

18 Butch looked superb! I was not immune to his personality, but I was scared.(Para. 4)

Meaning: Butch looked extremely wonderful. I was surely influenced by his personality,but I felt scared.

19 The night when he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend, I went alongwith him. (Para. 4)

Meaning: That night when my boyfriend announced publicly I was his girlfriend, I did nothave any objection.

Meaning beyond words: She has apparently changed her perception of Butch, frombeing merely curious about him at first to becoming cautious about his wild, dynamicpersonality later; from being fearful of failing to resist his “bad boy image” to approving ofbeing his girlfriend.

20 And then I suddenly thought: “Oh my gosh! Am I his girlfriend? How did thathappen?” (Para. 4)

Meaning beyond words: All of a sudden, she realized that she had made a mistakebecause she was not really ready to have a boyfriend yet.

Note: “Gosh”, as an interjection, is used to express surprise. For example:Gosh, I didn’t expect to see you here! 天哪，我没想到在这里见到你！Gosh, it’s so cold. 天哪，太冷了！Gosh, there’s a lot of noise. 天哪，这儿真吵。

21 Then he whispered sweet words in my ear and said, “I’m going to marry you oneday and I will be a lawyer. You will see.” (Para. 4)

Meaning: Then he quietly said sweet words in my ear and said that he would marry meand I could eventually see him become a lawyer.

22 I was laughing inside and said to myself, “I’d never marry this guy. He’s a rebelwithout a good future. He’s my boyfriend because I hate my boring student life. Ijust want to have fun.” (Para. 5)

Meaning: Though I agreed to be his girlfriend, from my heart, he was just a rebellious boywithout a bright future. Therefore, I was not very serious about our relationship. To me, theonly purpose to date him was to get away from my boring student life.

23 Sure enough, the following month, I found out he had failed all his courses. (Para.6)

Meaning: Just as I had expected, he didn’t pass any of his courses.

24 Consequently, he was going to be expelled from the university. (Para. 6)

Meaning: As a consequence, the university was going to dismiss him from the school.

25 To my disgust, he seemed resigned to his fate. I knew there was hope, so I ledhim to the college secretary for reconsideration. (Para. 6)

Meaning: What upset me was that he seemed to accept his fate. As I knew there was stilla hope, I took him to the college secretary to see whether the decision could be changed.

26 “You are going to graduate with a BA in political science from UPenn andproceed to the College of Law,” I told him, lodging an appeal on his behalf, whichwas approved. (Para. 7)

Meaning beyond words: What she did for her boyfriend indicated their relationship hadcome to a new stage. Besides encouraging him to consult with the college secretary andsubmitting the appeal on his behalf, she also planned for his future career. She told himhe had to continue his studies at law school.

Note: Besides a noun, “proceed to” can also be followed by a verb phrase. For example:Having said how much she liked my idea, she then proceeded to make critical commentsabout it. 说完她是多么喜欢我的点子，她接着就提出了批评性的意见。

27 Butch was granted reconsideration. And, once we became steadies, hecoordinated his studies and social life, passing all of his classes. He eventuallystudied law. (Para. 7)

Meaning beyond words: Here we see the turning point of the relationship between thetwo. Her suggestions did work well with Butch since he was granted reconsideration. Assoon as they became steady lovers, Butch balanced his studies and social life and passedevery course. Finally, he studied law as had been planned.

Note: Steady can also be used as a noun, as is in the text. It’s an old-fashioned Americanway to describe a boyfriend or girlfriend that someone has been having a romanticrelationship with.

28 Despite Butch’s somewhat wild character, at his core, he is always a perfectgentleman and deserves a lot of credit for that. (Para. 8)

Meaning: In spite of Butch’s a little wild character, he was always a perfect gentleman inessence, for which he should be given recognition.

29 True, he’d sometimes take the liberty of displaying his love by planting a kiss onmy lips right in front of my astonished friends who watched and disapproved. (Para.8)

Meaning: Without my permission, sometimes he would press a kiss on my lips to showhis love in front of my friends, who were astonished and resented what he did.Note: “Plant a kiss” is a figurative use of the word plant, which means an intimate andpublicly demonstrative kiss showing his love to all who are watching.

30 But the truth is we had a pure and responsible relationship for seven full years.Sitting by the palm trees, hand in hand, we would listen to romantic songs, watchthe sunset, and weave dreams of being together with children of our own, forever.(Para. 8)

Meaning beyond words: Butch showed much respect for her conservative perception oflove. For seven years, they just enjoyed their romance in a traditional way.

31 Two years passed in a blur. One day, Butch took me by surprise as he kneltdown and proposed marriage holding a dozen red roses! (Para. 9)

Meaning: Two years passed so quickly that I didn’t really remember everything clearly.One day, I was startled when Butch, holding a dozen red roses, knelt down to proposemarriage.

Note: propose to sb. = propose marriage to sb.

32 Filled with deep emotion, I confessed my love for him, “How roooomaaaantic!!”(Para. 9)

Meaning: I admitted my love for him with deep affection. It was super romantic!

Meaning beyond words: She was so happy and thrilled to accept Butch’s marriageproposal that she said the word romantic in a slow and exaggerated way.Note: In informal writing, people would emphasize something in a similar way. Forexample:Thank you soooooo much! 真是太太太感谢您了！

33 Then my brain woke up from fantasy land. I cried out, “Good heavens. No! We’retoo young to tie the knot. We haven’t even graduated from college yet!” I reallyloved him but was pessimistic about our chances for success.(Para. 9)

Meaning beyond words: All of a sudden, she woke up from the romantic scene. Thoughshe already accepted love from Butch and confessed her love for him, she was not surewhether they would get married and have a happy ending as they were still collegestudents.

Note: It isn’t clear whether this expression tie the knot derives from an actual knot used inmarriage ceremonies or whether the knot is merely symbolic of a lasting unity. Knots havea place in many cultures and usually symbolize unbreakable pledges. Actual knots havecertainly been used in marriage ceremonies for some time. The word knot, although not inthe phrase tie the knot, has been associated with marriage since at least the 13th century.

34 We married five years later. (Para 10)

Meaning beyond words: Though she was pessimistic about their chance for success oflove, she accepted Butch’s proposal. They got married five years later, which illustratestheir deep and true love for each other.

35 Our faithful journey of love and learning took us down rocky roads of hardshipand on smooth easy-going highways. (Para. 11)

Meaning: Our devoted and faithful love guided us both in times of happiness and also intimes of hardship.

Note: The word rocky comes from the noun rock combining with -y. A rocky road refers toa road full of rocks, uneven or not flat. Words of this groupinclude: muddy, stony, grassy, snowy, rainy, etc.

36 It is a long, romantic, sometimes crazy, love story that sums up a 29-year longhoneymoon together as a couple who are still madly in love with each other. (Para.11)

Meaning beyond words: She felt very proud of her long-lasting romantic, sometimeseven crazy love, which was just like a 29-year long honeymoon for her and her husband.

37 Our love commenced with a casual attraction but bloomed into a mature loveand rich life. (Para. 11)

Meaning beyond words: Completely beyond her expectation, love came to her as shestarted with a casual date but ended up growing into a mature love and rich life.

Note: We usually use commence doing sth. or commence with sth. Also, in the US, theofficial college/university graduation ceremony is called “commencement”. The wordrefers to the completion of one’s education and the beginning of one’s new adult life.

Note: The phrase “bloomed into a mature love and rich life” in the text is used figuratively,meaning their love was just like blossoms on a tree.